


Fear

by TheDarkLordMegatron



Series: Zine Pieces [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Established Relationship, Fleurentia Zine, M/M, Starscourge, World of Ruin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2021-02-18 02:01:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21503425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDarkLordMegatron/pseuds/TheDarkLordMegatron
Summary: It started with little black tendrils snaking out from beneath the edges of his Magitek arm. Tiny little things that had he not been inspecting the joint, as he often did, would have gone otherwise unnoticed. As soon as his eyes fell upon them he froze, his breath catching in his throat.There was no mistaking them for what they were, the beginnings of the Starscourge.Written for the Fleurentia Zine - Sass & Class
Relationships: Ravus Nox Fleuret/Ignis Scientia
Series: Zine Pieces [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1505765
Comments: 1
Kudos: 23





	Fear

As a boy, Ravus imagined that he would die an old man surrounded by those he loved and happy with the love he had lived. Not once had he considered that at the age of thirty he would find out that he was dying.

It started with little black tendrils snaking out from beneath the edges of his Magitek arm. Tiny little things that had he not been inspecting the joint, as he often did, would have gone otherwise unnoticed. As soon as his eyes fell upon them he froze, his breath catching in his throat. There was no mistaking them for what they were, the beginnings of the Starscourge. He had seen enough people in the various stages of Daemonification in his lifetime to know that once the Scourge became visible to the naked eye, and without the immediate intervention of the Oracle, there was no saving the infected party. Indeed, it was generally considered kinder to simply put them out of their misery before the disease had a chance to eat away at their mind and body.

Sighing heavily, Ravus braced his forearms on the edge of the sink and let his head fall forward.

In retrospect, he should have removed the damned thing the second he discovered Ardyn’s identity as the Adagium, perhaps earlier considering the man’s predisposition to causing chaos and misery wherever he went. It did, after all, make sense that the very embodiment of the Starscourge would find a way to kill off the last of the Oracle’s line without initially drawing attention to himself. Unfortunately, with everything else going on, he had never once considered that the arm might be infected. 

An oversight that was now killing him.

Running his human fingers through his hair, Ravus moved to sit on the edge of the bathtub. Two options laid before him. One, he could come clean to Ignis and their friends, tell them the truth and try to live a normal life, well, as normal as one’s life could be in a world without the sun and a fatal disease running through your veins. Or two, he could keep it a secret. Ensure that no one but himself would know the truth until it was too late. Certainly not the best option, especially not when Ignis already suspected him of keeping secrets in regards to his health. 

No, he would have to tell Ignis the truth. But first, he was going to have to come to terms with the realisation that he was dying.

Yay.

\----

Three weeks after he had first discovered the truth about his failing health, Ravus collapsed. 

Following the sun’s disappearance the sudden influx of refugees and hunters to Lestallum, Gladiolus had been quite insistent that Iris should not be allowed to wander around unaccompanied, at least until her eighteenth birthday or the Marshal deemed her self-defence skills sufficient enough. With both himself and Prompto otherwise occupied in the movement of refugee caravans, and Ignis having taken it upon himself to deal with the bureaucracy of a ‘post-apocalyptic world’, as Prompto liked to call it, Gladiolus had reluctantly chosen Ravus as Iris’ protector. Because apparently, he was a better option than leaving the daughter of one of the most fearsome men in Lucis to her own devices. 

Would wonders never cease?

It was on one such excursion that Ravus found himself lying in a puddle, his entire body seized up in agony whilst Iris knelt beside him, her hands on his shoulders, crying out for help. Had his head not felt as though it might implode, he would have been quite mortified about his state and the numerous concerned people who had gathered around them. As it was, it took all of his self-restraint to swallow the moan of pain that was attempting to make itself known.

He wasn’t quite sure how long he laid there, only that after what felt like a lifetime, familiar fingers touched his face and neck before two brutishly large hands tucked themselves beneath his body and ever so slowly rolled him onto his back. The sudden movement, despite its slow speed, sent a jolt of pain down his spine and through his head and this time he could not swallow the pained groan that escaped his lips. 

“No visible wounds,” Ignis commented as his face was finally freed from the cold water he’d been laying in.

“That’s something at least,” A voice he recognised as belonging to Marshal Leonis muttered as Ravus was finally settled on his back, out of the puddle. Blinking slowly, Ravus stared up at the faces hovering over his, focusing on Ignis as someone, most likely Cor, propped his legs up on what had to have been a jacket or two.

“Hello darling,” Ignis said softly, running his fingers through Ravus’ hair “How are you feeling?” 

“M’fine,” The roughness of his own voice had Ravus wincing. 

“Fine men don’t collapse in the middle of the street,” Cor interjected as he moved into view. 

“I’m afraid I must agree with the Marshal on this one,” Sighing Ravus closed his eyes and leant into the hand that had migrated from his hair to his cheek. 

“Ah ah, eyes open kid.” The order was accompanied by the clicking of fingers and a light pat to the other side of his face.

Ravus cleared his throat before opening his eyes once again and levelling the Marshal with as strong a glare as he could muster in his weakened state. “I am not a child.”

“Let’s not have a fight in the middle of the street,” Ignis said before Cor had a chance to reply, leaning in to press a kiss to Ravus’ forehead. “If you do want to argue about ages, would you mind waiting until we are indoors, dry and warm?” Gods that sounded delightful. Without the sun it was almost permanently cold, and the water currently covering the entire left side of his body was doing absolutely nothing to help. Then again, neither was the Scourge but he had at least attempted to counter that by wearing more layers than normal, or at least as many as he could get away with without raising suspicion. 

Once again Cor’s hands found their way beneath his armpits, only this time Ravus was absolutely certain that he was going to empty the contents of his stomach over the man’s body.

“Stop, stop, stop-” He begged, bowing his head and clenching his eyes shut as he attempted to regain his bearings and stop the world from spinning. The whole situation was humiliating enough as it was, he refused to let his body embarrass him any further. Thankfully Cor paused immediately, giving him a minute or two to regain control of his body before Ignis joined them in helping him to his feet.

When he finally felt less like death and more like himself again, Ravus nodded and allowed Ignis to continue supporting him when Cor moved away. 

“Take it easy,” Cor ordered “Get some rest, both of you. I’ll take Iris home.” 

Ah, yes, Iris, he’d almost forgotten about her. Peering around the Marshal Ravus inclined his head ever so slightly, not quite trusting his body to remain on his side should he try and nod fully. “Thank you for your help, I am most grateful.” She gave him a small smile in return.

“Yes, thank you Iris,” Ignis added with a small smile of his own, readjusting his grip on Ravus. “Come on, let’s get you home.”

\----

Never let it be said that Ravus couldn’t appreciate the wonders of modern plumbing. There really was nothing better than being able to stand beneath a continuous stream of warm water with one’s partner. Unfortunately, he only remembered that he’d been actively avoiding sharing a shower with Ignis for the past month once he was already naked and standing in said shower. The moment his shirt was off and unceremoniously thrown aside, Ignis’ face became devoid of any emotion, a hand coming up to touch his right shoulder.

“How long?” Ignis questioned softly, his voice deceptively calm.

Sighing Ravus dropped his head back against the tiles, allowing the water to continue soaking his body. “Three weeks.” He admitted, angling the showerhead away from Ignis and over himself entirely. 

“And I presume this is the cause of your collapse earlier?” 

“Most probably,” He answered, “I didn’t want to worry you.” The second the words left his mouth he wished they hadn’t. Ignis’ head snapped up, his eyes burning with silent fury.

“You didn’t want to worry me?” He repeated, voice eerily calm. “You did not want to worry me so you kept your illness a secret. An illness that had you collapsing in the middle of the street.” Okay, so perhaps keeping the infection a secret hadn’t been one of his better ideas, especially not when he had likely terrified those around him in the process.

“You have enough to worry about.” The sight of Ignis’ face contorting in rage had him raising a hand, “Please, let me explain.” At Ignis’ reluctant nod he continued “I am terrified Ignis. This,” He motioned to the black tendrils that covered a good portion of his upper body. “Is going to kill me. There is no curing it and we both know what the Starscourge does to its victims.” Ravus paused “I thought that if I kept it a secret, that if I didn’t openly admit to being contaminated then I could pretend, if only for a short while, that it wasn’t true.” The rage faded from Ignis’ face as he spoke, being replaced by an emotion he struggled to identify. “You have enough to worry about between Noctis’ disappearance and the influx of refugees. I didn’t want to place another burden upon your shoulders.”

“Ravus,” Ignis said firmly, taking a step closer, inadvertently stepping into the shower despite his fully dressed state to grab his face “You are not, and  _ never  _ will be a burden. Not to me.” 

“I am going to die,” Ravus choked out after a few moments of silence, “I wanted to spare you the pain of that for as long as possible.”

“I do not want to be spared the pain Ravus, not when it means spending hours locked away in meetings when I could be spending them with  _ you _ .” 

“I would not ask-”

Ignis’ hand covered his mouth “ _ You _ are not asking anything of me Ravus Nox Fleuret.” He stated, moving the hand covering his mouth to his jaw, the other coming up to rest over the infected joint. “I am telling you that I would rather tell the world to leave me alone and survive without me for a while, so that I may spend as many hours as is physically possible with the man I love more than anything in this world.” And while Ravus knew that last statement to be false, Noctis was and always would be the most important thing in Ignis’ life, he couldn’t prevent the singular tear from escaping. “I only wish that you had told me sooner so I could have supported you.” 

Chuckling mirthlessly Ravus smiled at him “We have enjoyed this last year though, have we not?” 

“We have.” Was Ignis’ quiet response. 

“All things come to an end Ignis,” Ravus began with a shake of his head “I am just sorry that I will be leaving you behind far earlier than I intended.” The tears in Ignis’ eyes only served to break his own heart further. 

“I’m fairly certain you promised that I would not have to lose anyone else I hold dear.” 

“Another promise I am afraid I cannot keep.” Bowing his head, Ravus worried his lower lip.

“Ravus,” The declaration of his name was followed by a choked off sound as Ignis threw his arms around him. 

“When the time comes,” Ravus whispered, “If you cannot bring yourself to end it, please, have someone else do it. I do not want to become one of those  _ things _ ," he spat. 

Swallowing around the lump in his throat and desperately fighting to hold back his tears, Ignis nodded, leaning in to kiss him. “I would not let you.” Ignis knew he would not be strong enough to be the one to end it; that in reality, Cor would likely be the one to strike the final blow and yet he could not bring himself to say otherwise. “I promise.” 

Ravus’ almost inaudible ‘Thank you’ is what finally brought them both to tears. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of my pieces for the Fleurentia Zine - Sass & Class! 
> 
> It was such a blast to work on and I got to flex my angst muscles which is always fun~


End file.
